everything steelflex

[Howard]

steelflex arrived today =D>

 

[Flatsdaddy]

I am about to paint my riveted alumacraft 1648. It is a 1972 model but has no leaks at all. The bottom paint is actually pretty good.

Should I bother with steelflex or even painting the bottom? I'm thinking about taking the guides off my trailer and just painting it on the trailer. I could paint as much of the bottom as you would ever see.

Also, is it OK to paint the bottom with regular paint? I'm going to use regular duck boat paint. My local HW store has Jack Tar Ducking skiff olive.

Any thoughts?

 

[juggernoob]

Question about temperature, tomorrow will be in the 80s and 77 on Sat with night time temps around 55+. Am I good to put on the Steelflex mid morning when the temps rise above 70, or are the night time temps too cold for drying?

 

[Steve_In]

juggernoob, I just did Steelflex under similar conditions. All set-up in about 12 hours no problem. It "dries" by chemical reaction and it generates it's own heat.

 

[allen m]

Hey guy,s i see everyone sanding there boats before paint and putting on steelflex. I do sandblasting. Here in east tx, I blast a lot of boats for guys. Find a guys that does blasting and it will save you alot of work.As long as you use a med- fine grit, the finish comes out nice. If you have any ?, just let me know.

 

[Henry Hefner]

I got tired of re-bucking weeping rivets on the Minnow Bucket, so I just replaced the leakers and did the entire outside of the hull in Steelflex. I don't really have anything new to offer about application, cause I just followed the advice of everyone else on this thread. I did have some runs (sagging?) on vertical surfaces where I put it on too thick. You can't put it on and then tell yourself that you will spread it out if it starts to sag, because it can start to sag after it is starting to set up! One thing about color, I ordered the olive drab. Now most paints that come in rattle cans today that are labeled olive drab are a lighter green, near the color of the new john boats you see at the store. NO, Steelflex olive drab is OLD SCHOOL olive drab, what most people today call army green, much darker than new john boats. Had I known this ahead of time, I would have only used about half of the pigment they sent, but I found out too late. I'm not saying it looks bad, it doesn't, only that I would have preferred it to be a little lighter.

 

[damifinowfish]

So I 'm getting back to my boat project. I have to do this job by myself so I know I need to mix up small amounts. My question is Are the 2 different parts too thick to use a turkey basters as a measuring cup?

Damifinow Fish

 

[Henry Hefner]

So I 'm getting back to my boat project. I have to do this job by myself so I know I need to mix up small amounts. My question is Are the 2 different parts too thick to use a turkey basters as a measuring cup?

Damifinow Fish

Dang, that's not a yes or no answer.
Will it go into and out of a turkey baster? YES
Will it work WELL? I don't think so. MAYBE.... If you used two turkey basters, and kept them separate so that the two products never mixed. It would be hard to clean up between jobs, but if you just stood them in cups or something and you weren't worried about cleaning up between coats, it might do pretty well. I did mine by myself. I bought marked quart containers at walmart for 85 cents each, and poured from the cans into the cup. I made 24 ounces at a time, and still had enough room in the cup to stir with the Harbor Freight paint mixer that goes on your drill. I even re-used one cup, it had set up into the cup and it came out in several pieces when I warped the cup.
I punched holes in the trough of the cans, so after I poured from them I could get the slop-over back into the can.

 

[damifinowfish]

yes
I was planing to using 2 turkey basters and do it the way you said. I want to use 16oz at a time to see how it goes.

How long should I plan to just do the bottom of a 13 foot boat?

Thanks
damifinow fish

 

[Henry Hefner]

How long should I plan to just do the bottom of a 13 foot boat?

It depends on how many coats you put on. Once you mix it, you don't have a lot of time before it starts to set up, I am guessing you are taking about doing just the bottom of a FLAT bottom boat, meaning that you won't be painting any vertical surfaces. This stuff sets up faster the larger the batch that is together, so to have the longest time to play with it, immediately after mixing it, drizzle it out over the boat, then you can take more time spreading it out with the roller. The cheap small foam rollers (I think 4") worked great for me. You should be able to mix and spread a coat in less than 30 minutes. Others have said that Fasco advises succeeding coats be applied when the product has set up some, but is still tacky. That time will differ depending on temperature, for me it was about 3 hours between coats.

 

[Brine]

The turkey basters sound like more trouble than they're worth.

I used a metal soup ladle and just wiped it out with a paper towel after each use. I think if I did it again, I'd use dixie cups and toss them after each use.

 

[moberg12]

Three quick application questions!!

1. Do I mix the pigment in with the clear part and then mix with the neutral?

2. Should I mix the entire pigment container into the clear part or do I mix it as I go?

3. It's starting to get cold here in the mountains, at what point is it too cold to apply??

I'd call Fasco but I'm hoping to get this applied tomorrow.

 

[Henry Hefner]

Three quick application questions!!

1. Do I mix the pigment in with the clear part and then mix with the neutral?

2. Should I mix the entire pigment container into the clear part or do I mix it as I go?

3. It's starting to get cold here in the mountains, at what point is it too cold to apply??

I'd call Fasco but I'm hoping to get this applied tomorrow.

If I recall correctly, the instructions that came with it said not to apply below 60ºF, and the pigment is mixed with the neutral, not the clear. I mixed the pigment all at once, if you try to measure it out, chances are you won't get the mixture exact and different batches will be different shades.

 

[damifinowfish]

The turkey baster did not work. This stuff was really thick today but the temp was around 55 degrees. Made a nice mess but the bottom is painted. Used 3/4 of a gallon on the bottom should have enough to do one side in the spring.

Thanks for all your help

Damifinow Fish

 

[tripleup05]

As I read through this thread, I noticed that nobody really talked about putting the stuff inside their boat. I was thinking about doing just that, but it doesn't seem very popular. How come? Is paint a better, cheaper alternative?

 

[Henry Hefner]

As I read through this thread, I noticed that nobody really talked about putting the stuff inside their boat. I was thinking about doing just that, but it doesn't seem very popular. How come? Is paint a better, cheaper alternative?

In my case, the answer is yes. The only reason I used it was to seal weeping rivets, however, all my mods are already in place. If I were starting from scratch on another boat, I would consider using it inside and out because it is so durable.

 

[Troutman3000]

The only downfall to using steelflex on a boat in rough waters is that if the hull flexes it will crack the steelflex. I think Gluv it is more appropriate for the inside as it weeps into the seams and rivets fromt he inside but is flexible so it wont crack like steel flex will.

 

[tripleup05]

Thanks for the info Troutman and Henry. I definately plan to steelflex the outside of the hull after going over the reivets and seams to make sure there aren't any issues. Just about every bit of the interior will be covered by either flooring, decking, or some sort of storage compartments. In my situation, would I benefit from steelflexxing the inside? I'm thinking not, but would love some other input.

 

[Henry Hefner]

Thanks for the info Troutman and Henry. I definately plan to steelflex the outside of the hull after going over the reivets and seams to make sure there aren't any issues. Just about every bit of the interior will be covered by either flooring, decking, or some sort of storage compartments. In my situation, would I benefit from steelflexxing the inside? I'm thinking not, but would love some other input.

The only advantage I can see is double insurance by having both sides of your rivets covered. Shouldn't be needed, but if I had some leftover anyway, and conditions were convenient (time available, weather permitting, easy access to the inside) I might do it for grins. The only disadvantages I can see are effort spent and a few pounds added to the hull.

 

[tripleup05]

Thanks for the info Troutman and Henry. I definately plan to steelflex the outside of the hull after going over the reivets and seams to make sure there aren't any issues. Just about every bit of the interior will be covered by either flooring, decking, or some sort of storage compartments. In my situation, would I benefit from steelflexxing the inside? I'm thinking not, but would love some other input.

The only advantage I can see is double insurance by having both sides of your rivets covered. Shouldn't be needed, but if I had some leftover anyway, and conditions were convenient (time available, weather permitting, easy access to the inside) I might do it for grins. The only disadvantages I can see are effort spent and a few pounds added to the hull.

Thanks for the info! If I have enough, I will give it a go.

So are there any tricks to applying it around the ribs, top rail, etc?